Thousands of contract teachers march in Patna

Patna: Thousands of teachers on contract with the Bihar government took to Patna streets on Friday, demanding the "right to equal pay for equal work", just two days ahead of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's "Adhikar Yatra", police said.

The teachers shouted slogans against the state government and threatened to boycott work if the government did not stop victimising teachers for raising their demands.

This is the second time teachers in the state have gone on protest in the last 48 hours in Patna in a bid to exert pressure on the chief minister, ahead of his "Adhikar" rally.

Traffic in the state capital was thrown out of gear by the protesting teachers.

"We took out a Shikshak Adhikar (teachers' rights) rally in support of our demands, and we are seeking pay in accordance with the scale for regular teachers, and service conditions on par with the regular teachers who do similar work," said Sanjeev Singh.

Mr Singh, one of the nearly one lakh contractual teachers from across the state who have grievances with the state government, added: "We also seek the withdrawal of cases lodged against teachers who have protested during the chief minister's 'Adhikar Yatra'."

The teachers said that they would continue protesting in Patna till November 4, the day of the chief minister's "Adhikar Yatra" in Patna.

"We will intensify our protest to bring pressure on the chief minister to meet our demands," Mohd Salam Ansari, one of the contractual teachers, said.

Last month, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, unhappy with protests by the contractual teachers, declared that their demands for parity of salary with government teachers would not be met.

Nitish Kumar repeatedly told the teachers that his government would not fulfil their demands, after they created a ruckus at his public meetings in Motihari, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Begusarai, Khagaria and Madhepura during his "Adhikar Yatra".